Marriage law challenge
by Riley Black
Summary: Chapter one up! the Marriage Law is unanimously passed by the Wizengamot with outrageous requirements...review to let me know if I should continue! rating for later chaps
1. Chapter 1

_MARRIAGE LAW PASSED BY A UNANIMOUS VOTE_

_21 July 2000_

_In an emergency Wizengamot session (with all members present) disturbing facts dealing with the quick decline in magical births were revealed. These new revelations were presented by a group of intellectuals selected to observe population trends of the international community. The Wizengamot responded to their presentation by unanimously passing a marriage law. That's right my loyal leaders, a marriage law. The list below is actually a list of requirements of the marriage law. I for one, am glad that I am already married…for you unmarried readers out there, my dearest sympathies._

_Helga Hershbin_

_Marriage Law_

_All marriages finalized before eleven o'clock in the morning of July 21 2000 are hereby disintegrated. _

_All pureblood males between the ages of 20 and 65 with the full capability of producing children are eligible_

_All muggle-born (magical child of 2 non-magical parents) female between the ages of 17 and 50 are eligible_

_All half-bred magical persons (werewolves, vela, vampires, giants, etc (see sec I p2 for full list)) are hereby exempt_

_The head of each pureblooded family must petition on behalf of each eligible male for the hand of a carefully chosen eligible witch_

_The eligible witch is required to accept the petition within 48 hours of its arrival_

_Any eligible witch receiving more than one petition has until 15 days after the arrival of her second petition to choose._

_Any eligible persons refusing to cooperate and follow all requirements will be stripped of all magic and banished from the magical world._

_Each union must be consummated within 24 hours of the bonding ceremony._

_Each couple is required to produce two fully-magical heirs (see requirements sec II p4)_

_Divorce is only possible after the last heir has reached age 11_

_All husbands are hereby prohibited from emotionally or physically harming his wife. Punishable by law (3 year prison sentence minimum)_

_Any other stipulation not covered in these requirements or attached sections may be covered in an additional marriage contract, which must be signed and verified by both parties as well as a qualified ministry official._


	2. Chapter 2

Author's note:

Disclaimers, disclaimers….where for art thou disclaimers?

This disclaimer covers the whole story, so that I do not have to repeat this over and over again. Any characters in the HP books do not belong to me. However, if I happen to put an original character in…well that's mine (not that I care). I am not receiving any money for this story.

This story is not HBP compliant, since many of you questioned certain characters (mainly Snape) being half-bloods. So for all intensive purposes, this will not include the 6th book (although I have in fact, read book 6).

Also, I should probably put this in here now… so that I don't have to say it later if I receive nasty reviews. I do not take non-constructive criticism well. If you see grammar or spelling errors, please let me know, I always need to better myself in that area. If there is something else wrong, tell me. However, I don't care if you don't like it because its slightly OOC or AU. If its completely OOC, then remind me to add it to the summary so you don't waste your time reading it…otherwise, keep any nasty comments to yourself.

Now on with the show…

"Oh Merlin, no!" she moaned, clutching a newly printed copy of the morning's _Daily Prophet_. Now eighteen years old, and one third of the reason Voldemort was dead, Hermione Granger was being forced to marry. _Knowing fate, I'll probably get stuck with a Voldemort-lover, which, would go against everything I fought for_, she mused.

"How is something wrong already? Its only 11 o'clock in the bloody morning!" growled the teenage defeater of Voldemort.

"Well Harry," she began, crossing the living room over to the doorway where the boy- who-lived was standing, "I've fought tirelessly alongside you and the Order to defeat Voldemort…" she began simply. "Then—" her voice rose, "I see in this morning's issue in the _Daily Prophet_ that I'm being asked, nay, ordered, by the Ministry to marry a pureblood and become a baby-making machine to stop their…BLOODY INBREEDING!"

At the end of her rant, Hermione strode to the fireplace. "Where are you going?" Harry called after her.

Hermione turned, throwing the front page of the _Daily Prophet_ down at his feet. "I have a meeting with Dumbledore in an hour—now I know why—" she threw the dust in the fireplace and shouted, "Headmaster's Office, Hogwarts!"

Hermione's arrival was met with a knowing glance from Dumbledore. "I hope you don't mind I'm early," she said coldly.

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled. "Not at all…you do remember Severus, don't you, Miss Granger?" he said calmly. "You both seem to be in quite a spot, don't you??"


	3. Chapter 3

"Headmaster, you can't honestly think that I would be interested in marrying a child—"

"I am not a child you bloody inbreed—"

"—and the insufferable know-it-all Gryffindor Head Girl. Really, what would the parents say, Headmaster?" Snape asked, giving Dumbledore a pointed look.

"Since when did you become concerned about what the parents thought Severus? And anyway, this marriage would be perfectly above par since Miss Granger is over the age of consent in both the Wizarding and non-Magical worlds."

"Excuse me headmaster, but I do believe that I have no intention of becoming a baby-making machine for the ministry. Why on earth do you think I would be interested in marrying such a cold-hearted man as Professor Snape? 'Honorable' as he may have proved himself to be in the war, he is still not a very nice man, and I will not have myself shackled to him for the rest of my life—"

"Silence!" yelled the Headmaster.

The two immediately shut their mouths.

"I invited you two to my office today because I believed that since Miss Granger is the only female muggleborn in the Order that is affected by this law, that we should take care of this as swiftly as possible before some of the less savory characters petition for her hand in marriage. Severus, since you are also affected by this law, I believe we should—oh, what is that Muggle term again? Oh yes—kill two birds with one rock"

"Stone," Hermione corrected.

"Ah yes, stone—and have both of you taken off the 'market' as quickly as possible. This would benefit Hermione because she would be able to continue her final year at Hogwarts this year, and possibly continue on with her plans of her apprenticeship under Minerva, and Severus, you could stay here at Hogwarts, and have your life disrupted as little as possible—"

"How would having to bed a student, a Gryffindor no less, a little disruption? Albus, the entire point of this law is to produce offspring. I do believe that I would hang myself before I had children with that, that thing! Can you imagine? The little bushy-haired bucktoothed know-it-all brats with hooked noses running around? There is a reason I don't have a wife or children. I do not want them," Snape seethed.

"Well, you'll just have to get over that now won't you," came the gruff reply from across the room. Kingsley Shacklebolt, Minister of Magic.

"Ah, Kingsley! My good man!" shouted Albus, getting up and embracing the newcomer. "Thank you for coming on such short notice. Miss Granger, Severus, Kingsley is here to perform the binding ceremony. I thought it best to get it over with," Albus smiled, clapping his hands together and taking a seat in his chair behind the desk once more. Putting up his feet he said, "Now let's get on with it!"


End file.
